Pricing
How much CriticalPDF costs
$149 per user per year covers every feature of the suite. Volume discounts kick in at 5 users. The 30-day trial is unlimited and doesn't ask for a credit card.
CriticalPDF Suite
The full product, no feature tiers.
Billed annually. If you add users mid-year we prorate the difference.
- Virtual printer driver that captures from any Windows app
- CriticalPDF Service routing engine
- Templates with marker-tag variable substitution
- Multi-document batch processing that turns one print into many captures
- Multi-provider email (Gmail, Office 365, SMTP, Computer Team)
- Per-template PDF encryption with granular permissions
- Encrypted dead-letter queue with automatic replay
- Built-in savings calculator
- Group Policy / SCCM silent deployment
- All updates and patches during the license year
Support
Docs are free. Hands-on help is billable.
The documentation covers installation, deployment, templates, troubleshooting, and everything else about running CriticalPDF. It's free. Most questions are answered there.
Anything beyond the docs is billable at $180 per hour. That covers configuration walk-throughs, deployment help, and one-off engineering work. We give you a quote before we start.
Reporting a bug is free. Send it to support@criticalpdf.com. If it's a real defect, we fix it in a release and the fix ships to you at no charge.
Volume discounts
Buying more? Pay less.
The more users you license, the lower the per-user price. Discounts apply automatically at checkout.
| User count | Per user / year | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 4 users | $149 | — |
| 5 – 19 users | $127 | Save 15% |
| 20 – 49 users Popular | $104 | Save 30% |
| 50 – 199 users | $82 | Save 45% |
| 200+ users | Custom | Save 50%+ |
Need a custom quote, a multi-year prepay, or a site license? Talk to sales.
FAQ
Frequently asked
- How does the 30-day trial work?
- Download the MSI, install it, run it. Every feature of the suite is unlocked for 30 days from the first install. We don't ask for a credit card, an email address, or a signup form.
- What happens when the trial ends?
- The suite stops capturing new PDFs until a license key is applied. Already-captured documents and routed files are never affected. Apply a key from Settings → Licensing and the service resumes immediately.
- What does the license include?
- Everything in the suite, plus every update and patch we release during your licence year. There are no feature tiers, paywalled modules, or add-ons.
- What about support?
- The documentation covers installation, deployment, templates, troubleshooting, and everything else. It's free. Anything beyond the docs is billable at $180 per hour: configuration walk-throughs, deployment consulting, one-off engineering work. We give you a quote first. Reporting a bug is always free. If it's a real defect, we fix it in a release.
- What is a 'user'?
- One user is one named individual who actually prints through CriticalPDF. Five people sharing a workstation and all printing is five users. One person using the suite from three different machines is still one user, because the licence follows the person rather than the device.
- How does seat counting work on Windows Server / RDP hosts?
- Seats are consumed and checked at print time, not at login. A user who is signed into the RDP host but never prints to CriticalPDF does not consume a seat. We recommend restricting the printer's Security permissions to the AD group of licensed users so curious non-users can't accidentally consume seats from a print dialog. See the deployment guide for the exact steps.
- How is billing handled?
- Annual, paid up front, per user. Buy as many user licenses as you need; add more mid-year and we prorate. Invoices in USD by default; EUR and GBP available on request.
- How do volume discounts apply?
- Discounts apply automatically at checkout based on the total user count on your order. The per-user price for the whole order drops to the tier you qualify for. If you buy 5 seats, all 5 are at $127; you don't pay $149 for the first four and $127 for the fifth.
- Can I deploy via Group Policy or SCCM?
- Yes. The MSI supports silent install and reads the license key from a per-machine config file. ADMX templates for Group Policy are available on request.
Ready when you are.
The 30-day trial is unlimited and doesn't require a card. Install from the same MSI as the paid product; apply a licence when you decide.